Abstract
This dissertation is the attempt to examine the notion of community within the modern p... more Abstract
This dissertation is the attempt to examine the notion of community within the modern period. It takes as its point of departure the work concerning this topic of Maurice Blanchot, The Unavowable Community. Here I found an emphasis upon a passionate relationship to 'the Other', which I have analysed as that which escapes my rational categorisations and provides the potential for a renewed understanding of the self. From this starting point, I try to elaborate the many obstacles to such a form of community. Why is it that such passionate relationships struggle to form themselves? To do this, it has been necessary to examine some key aspects of modern life. Therefore, the method I have adopted has thus been twofold. On the one hand, a positive description of how we might experience such a community. In other words, how can we know what constitutes community if it differs from our common-sense view of it. And yet, on the other hand, it has been necessary to engage in a critical evaluation of those processes within modernity which have prevented such an experience from happening. These have been found within Nihilism, bio-politics and sovereignty, but what is common to each is the way in which power has subdued passionate relationships in favour of a rationalised administration of life. What is privileged over passion are contractual arrangements which turn our interactions into mechanical procedures. My aim, then, has been to provide some suggestions for how such a community might establish itself. My final chapter argues, indeed, that it is only through a renewed engagement with present political life that we can hope to construct this kind of passionate, Other-oriented community.
Abstract
This dissertation is the attempt to examine the notion of community within the modern p... more Abstract
This dissertation is the attempt to examine the notion of community within the modern period. It takes as its point of departure the work concerning this topic of Maurice Blanchot, The Unavowable Community. Here I found an emphasis upon a passionate relationship to 'the Other', which I have analysed as that which escapes my rational categorisations and provides the potential for a renewed understanding of the self. From this starting point, I try to elaborate the many obstacles to such a form of community. Why is it that such passionate relationships struggle to form themselves? To do this, it has been necessary to examine some key aspects of modern life. Therefore, the method I have adopted has thus been twofold. On the one hand, a positive description of how we might experience such a community. In other words, how can we know what constitutes community if it differs from our common-sense view of it. And yet, on the other hand, it has been necessary to engage in a critical evaluation of those processes within modernity which have prevented such an experience from happening. These have been found within Nihilism, bio-politics and sovereignty, but what is common to each is the way in which power has subdued passionate relationships in favour of a rationalised administration of life. What is privileged over passion are contractual arrangements which turn our interactions into mechanical procedures. My aim, then, has been to provide some suggestions for how such a community might establish itself. My final chapter argues, indeed, that it is only through a renewed engagement with present political life that we can hope to construct this kind of passionate, Other-oriented community.
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Papers by Gabriel Aspinall
This dissertation is the attempt to examine the notion of community within the modern period. It takes as its point of departure the work concerning this topic of Maurice Blanchot, The Unavowable Community. Here I found an emphasis upon a passionate relationship to 'the Other', which I have analysed as that which escapes my rational categorisations and provides the potential for a renewed understanding of the self. From this starting point, I try to elaborate the many obstacles to such a form of community. Why is it that such passionate relationships struggle to form themselves? To do this, it has been necessary to examine some key aspects of modern life. Therefore, the method I have adopted has thus been twofold. On the one hand, a positive description of how we might experience such a community. In other words, how can we know what constitutes community if it differs from our common-sense view of it. And yet, on the other hand, it has been necessary to engage in a critical evaluation of those processes within modernity which have prevented such an experience from happening. These have been found within Nihilism, bio-politics and sovereignty, but what is common to each is the way in which power has subdued passionate relationships in favour of a rationalised administration of life. What is privileged over passion are contractual arrangements which turn our interactions into mechanical procedures. My aim, then, has been to provide some suggestions for how such a community might establish itself. My final chapter argues, indeed, that it is only through a renewed engagement with present political life that we can hope to construct this kind of passionate, Other-oriented community.
This dissertation is the attempt to examine the notion of community within the modern period. It takes as its point of departure the work concerning this topic of Maurice Blanchot, The Unavowable Community. Here I found an emphasis upon a passionate relationship to 'the Other', which I have analysed as that which escapes my rational categorisations and provides the potential for a renewed understanding of the self. From this starting point, I try to elaborate the many obstacles to such a form of community. Why is it that such passionate relationships struggle to form themselves? To do this, it has been necessary to examine some key aspects of modern life. Therefore, the method I have adopted has thus been twofold. On the one hand, a positive description of how we might experience such a community. In other words, how can we know what constitutes community if it differs from our common-sense view of it. And yet, on the other hand, it has been necessary to engage in a critical evaluation of those processes within modernity which have prevented such an experience from happening. These have been found within Nihilism, bio-politics and sovereignty, but what is common to each is the way in which power has subdued passionate relationships in favour of a rationalised administration of life. What is privileged over passion are contractual arrangements which turn our interactions into mechanical procedures. My aim, then, has been to provide some suggestions for how such a community might establish itself. My final chapter argues, indeed, that it is only through a renewed engagement with present political life that we can hope to construct this kind of passionate, Other-oriented community.